Norwegian (Minnesota) Whist -- origin, tournament rules?

[Jon Noring]

Having grown up in a Minnesota-Norwegian family, I learned
how to play a card game (what we) called "whist". This card
game is more properly called "Norwegian or Minnesota Whist"
as mentioned in various card game rules compendiums. A set
of rules for playing Norwegian Whist (which varies only
slightly from what our family played) can be found at:

http://www.pagat.com/whist/minwhist.html

Obviously this card game is one of the many variations in the
seemingly large "whist" family (of which contract bridge is
currently the most popular and most complex relative).

What makes this card game interesting, and rare (if not
unique) among whist variants is the bid (called "low") of
giving away tricks -- that is, of not wanting tricks -- if
the final bid is "low", a team taking 6 or less tricks wins
the hand and obtains points. (On the other hand, for a bid
of "high", the mode of play is the same as contract bridge
"no trump", but with no hand on the board.)

It's interesting to watch bridge players struggle playing
Norwegian whist in "low" -- it is quite alien to them.
<laugh />

(I've been intrigued with adding a complexity to contract
bridge where *all* validly-dealt hands must be played -- if
all the players pass the first round, then instead of a
misdeal they must play the hand "low" (no trump), either
with no hand on the board, or where one player (depending on
who the dealer is) puts their hand on the board. I have no
thoughts on how one would score this.)

Norwegian whist is always played no trump.

My questions now are:

1) Has anybody studied the history of this variant of whist
-- is a similar game played back in Norway? (It is quite
popular among Norwegian immigrant families in Minnesota
but this does not prove its origin is in Norway.) A
corollary of this question is if a researcher has tried
to reconstruct the "family tree" of "whist"?

2) Are there any other variants of "whist" which have a
mode of play of "low" (give-away tricks)?

3) Is there an accepted set of rules used in Norwegian
whist tournament play? (As I said, there are slight
variations in how to bid low or high, and in scoring.)

3) Is there an association/organization that puts on
tournaments and has established a uniform set of rules
for Norwegian Whist? (If not, maybe there should be?)

Thanks!

Jon Noring

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana (ebook) *** http://www.blueglasspublishing.com/

[Jim Bolland]

> Having grown up in a Minnesota-Norwegian family, I learned
> how to play a card game (what we) called "whist".

I grew up in the Twin Cities and have never heard of this until now - in
spite of being a big fan of all kinds of card games. (I managed to
learn Euchre while at school in Madison. Even though it's very popular
in Madison and some other parts of Wisconsin, I missed out on Sheepshead
somehow.)

I can't really help you with any of your questions, but I can suggest
that you try posting them at news:rec.games.playing-cards. Even though
it's not a Minnesota-specific newsgroup, it is *the* newsgroup for card
games.

Jim

[pappas...@gmail.com]

My family is from North Dakota, and they play high and low, but clubs are always the trump card. Very strange how many variations there are. Also, greetings from the future.

[jno...@gmail.com]

On Thursday, April 19, 2018 at 2:28:41 AM UTC-4, pappas...@gmail.com wrote:
> My family is from North Dakota, and they play high and low, but clubs are always the trump card. Very strange how many variations there are. Also, greetings from the future.

Interesting that I just returned to this post after 16 years, and notice your recent reply "from the future!"

Thanks!

[sk...@saugususd.org]

I am from ND and we played this game for hours. In the cafeteria on campus (UND) we had the never ending game,. When it was time for class someone else sat in your chair and the game continued. You could come back 5 hours later and the game was still going and you rotated back in. Everyday, All day.

We played high/low no trump. I had not heard of 4 handed whist with trump but we had trump for three handed whist (Merry Widow)

[joannal...@gmail.com]

idk about all the answers to your questions but i also grew up playing this game with my family - norwegian grandmother. it is nearly impossible to find people who know how or are interested in learning this game.

[Jasmine]

I just came across this post from 2002 while reading more about Norwegian and Minnesota Whist. I do not have specific answers regarding your questions, but I do have some interesting insight.

I grew up in Minnesota with family from North Dakota. Whist was the favorite card game of my grandmother, so we often played it at family get-togethers. I was unaware that this game was called anything other than "Whist" until reading about Whist online tonight. I now know that we always played Norwegian/Minnesota Whist.

I now live in Denmark, where the version of Whist that I grew up playing is also played. I also Google searched for the game "Norwegian Whist" and "Danish Whist" in the Danish language. They are the same game, although it is referred to as "Danish Whist" here in Denmark rather than "Norwegian Whist".

So, with that said, I suppose the Whist played in Minnesota and the surrounding areas really is a tradition passed down from our Scandinavian ancestors.

Happy Scandinavian Whist playing! :)

[kevinc...@gmail.com]

Hi all, I learned whist (aka Minnesota Whist) from Norwegian descendent classmates starting in 9th grade. We played all the time and held our own tournaments. I get back to Minnesota every 1-2 years and I always play when I get back there. 38 years playing whist and counting...I'm going to try to teach my kids (8 and 10).